Sunday Activities - June 8

YN2 (how does that look Todd?) Todd Williams and SPC Cheryl Thomas came over on Sunday afternoon. Yvonne made a shrimp quiche, a spinach quiche, and a salad for dinner. And a home made cheese cake for dessert.

After dinner we went into the living room and sang and worshipped. Then we watched Matthew chapter 22 and talked about it. We only discussed the first 14 verses.

This section of Matthew 22 was Jesus' parable comparing the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet prepared by a king. When the king sent servants to tell those who had been invited to the banquet that everything was ready, they refused to come. They went about their business as usual and couldn't be bothered. They even mistreated and killed the servants. Jesus said the king killed the murderers and destroyed their city. It was not long after this that the city of Jerusalem was actually destroyed.

Then the king sent out other servants to invite anyone who would come to the banquet. And come they did, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. From what Jesus said next it can be inferred that those who came were given wedding garments. We talked about the wedding garments: white, clean, linen garments (Rev 3:5) "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." KJV

Rev 7:9-10 says "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." NIV

Rev 7:13-14 goes on to say, "Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes — who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." NIV

Finally Rev 19:14 says: "The armies of heaven were following him [Jesus], riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean ." NIV

The way a person comes to wear a white robe is by receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. That's what it means by "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

We talked about the passage in Isaiah 1:18 "'Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." NIV

Without faith in Jesus Christ our "robes" are as red as crimson because of our sin. Only by believing in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins can we be forgiven and made clean. Clean so that our "robes" are white and clean instead of stained red.

After we talked about this it was interesting to go back to our passage in Matthew 22 and read the verses where Jesus talked about the man who was cast out of the kingdom because he did not have the right wedding garments on.

This whole parable was similar to the parable of the tenants in Matthew 21. In this passage (Matthew 22) Jesus was still addressing the Jewish chief priests and elders of the people as He was in Matthew 21.

Those who had originally been invited to the "banquet" were the Jewish people. But they refused to come to the banquet, to the kingdom of God. They stoned the prophets and killed many. They would be responsible for having Jesus put to death. They refused to believe. Yet the sinners and prostitutes and tax collectors and outcasts of society believed in Him and entered the kingdom.

I think it can safely be inferred that the man without the wedding garment represented the Jewish nation who had rejected Jesus, and yet "claimed" to belong to the kingdom of heaven. They believed that they could get into the kingdom apart from faith in Jesus. That man was cast out into the darkness. This parallels what Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the Jewish people in Matthew 21:41 "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit."

The message is clear: apart from Jesus Christ there is no possibility of getting into the kingdom of God (the kingdom of heaven). It is only through faith in Jesus that we can have our sins forgiven and our "robes" washed clean. There is no other way!

After our study we shared prayer requests and prayed for each other.